Concerned Governments, led by - Ireland's - former Minister of The Arts, Culture and The Gaeltacht - Mr Michael Higgins, have recently begun to subsidize farmers in an effort to halt the corncrake's slide to extinction. A grant of £32 per acre may be paid to each farmer who records a sighting of a corncrake. The corncrake-resident land is then confirmed and may be purchased by the Government and leased back to the owner at a very favorable rate. A further grant of £8 per acre is given if the farmer harvests in a "corncrake friendly manner". This entails mowing in an outward spiral from the center of the field. The corncrake is thus encouraged to seek shelter and escape the whirring blades that have so terribly decimated their population.
